No Kings #2

~ Yesterday we opted for the Waterville location and only made it to the rally (not the march) as there was a previously scheduled vaccination appointment for the other person in this household. We lucked out with a parking spot right across the street from the park and stayed for about 45 minutes to hear several speeches and lots of cheering and chanting. There were people lining Elm Srteet, waving and elliciting honks and salutations (mostly positive) from the cars passing by. We did our duty and were part of the record crowd - 2000 strong - at that location. ~ And this morning, the toddler in chief posted an AI generated video of himself as King, flying a fighter jet spreading feces on No Kings protesters. It seems to be incredibly easy to trigger his insecurities but this is a new low in responses. And incredibly violent because he could not find any instances of violence to call out his goons on yesterday. He thrives on the most violent of actions, thinks it makes him look strong when all it does is reinforce his insecurities. ~ Yesterday it was announced that the Dept. of Homeland Security had purchased 2 new Gulfstream jets for the Secretary's use. All this during a government shutdown. Ah, I see! The government is shutdown for the common people and our needs, but not for the elites in "power" because, well, they are sooo f'ing important. It's just like the signage for Question 2 on this Fall's ballot - "Keep Maine Safe - vote NO on Question 2". A Yes vote would strengthen the language that would trigger a person's guns be confiscated - basically a Red Flag law as opposed to the current Yellow Flag law. The "Keep Maine Safe" language is coming from the 2nd Ammendment folks who want no limit on gun ownership, no matter the cost to human life. I just don't understand it. Of course, I would take away their military-style semi-automatics in a heartbeat. No one needs those guns and they are the ones who do the most damage in the shortest amount of time, which is why they are the weapon of choice for most mass shooting terrorists. ~ Getting ready for the first show of the Fall/Winter season next weekend. Almost finished creating inventory. Then it will be on to holiday items. Getting antsy for it and ready to wrap up this phase of my life. I want to spend the winter reading!

GOT TO ADMIT IT'S GETTING...WORSE!

~ Now we have a threat of armed National Guardsmen being deployed to Portland - the left coast one. Such a gentle, peaceful city. Yes, they had their moments of civil unrest in the past but they are nowhere near the "hellscape" a certain orange buffoon is making them out to be. As usual, he exagerates to inflame and foment unrest to appear strong when all he is doing is compensating for his weaknesses and trying to deflect from whatever is contained in the Epstein files. With this week's release of info, it appears as if Elon was a visitor to the island of misfit pedifiles along with another high profile advisor to the President. He is aiding and abetting all sorts of criminals, along with himself. It won't be pretty when it all comes tumbling down. ~ Closer to home, I have finished the current creations and am ready to start on a couple of tree skirts as well as the remainder of the scented trivets needed. Then on to some holiday runners and placemats. The garden is mostly put to bed, save the leeks which can remain through the first few frosts. I have a stash of green tomatos put up downstairs and plenty of ripe ones in the kitchen. I made a small batch of tomato sauce last week along with 5 pints of applesauce yesterday. I've frozen peppers and have a zucchini (purchased) ready to grate for bread and muffins. We're still eating lettuce from the back porch, and there is a smallish bag of the last of the chard ready for a dinner this week. All in all, despite a couple of disappoinments, I'd say the garden was a success. Oh and 4 pumpkins that surprisingly showed up after the rain a couple of weeks ago. None of them are huge but should should yield enough for a pie. ~ D. is still chasing after healthcare changes - his PCP moved to Falmouth after Inland closed and his cardiologist moved to Skowhegan and then passed away a couple of weeks ago. So he's starting from scratch. I'm so happy I made the choice to stick with Maine General years ago when I ended up with a PCP I was not happy with who was associated with Inland, especially when Inland joined Northern Light. Like D. I would have had to travel to Bangor for some of my care and I wasn't willing to do that. I hope he can get settled soon. ~ Other health news - I got my flu shot 2 weeks ago when I saw my PCP and got my COVID and pneumonia last week. I took Tylenol (no fear of autism for me!) after which helped immemsely with the arm pain. I was a bit sluggish the day after but bounced nack quickly. I should be fully immune by the time show season starts for good in a month.

Our Differences Divide Us..at What Cost?

The past 24 hours has been consumed with news of the assasination of a very conservative right-wing influencer. (Oh, how I wish we could banish influencer as a job in this day and age!). I will not name him, but these are some quotes attributed to him: If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, boy, I hope he’s qualified. – 23 January 2024 If you’re a WNBA, pot-smoking, Black lesbian, do you get treated better than a United States marine? – 8 December 2022 Happening all the time in urban America, prowling Blacks go around for fun to go target white people, that’s a fact. It’s happening more and more. – 19 May 2023 If I’m dealing with somebody in customer service who’s a moronic Black woman, I wonder is she there because of her excellence, or is she there because of affirmative action? – 3 January 2024 If we would have said that Joy Reid and Michelle Obama and Sheila Jackson Lee and Ketanji Brown Jackson were affirmative action picks, we would have been called racists. Now they’re coming out and they’re saying it for us … You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person’s slot to go be taken somewhat seriously. – 13 July 2023 ~ And on women - "And I would also tell young ladies, you can always go back to your career later, that there is a window where you primarily should pursue marriage and having children, and that is a beautiful thing." Less than 48 hours later, his assassin has been arrested, thanks in part to a parent who did the right thing and listened to his son and then called the authorities. While I do not condone this sort of violence at any time, I will not spend any time or emotions on greiving for this person, who did nothing but aid the MAGAs in driving a wedge between many factions in this country. We used to be able to co-exist quite respectfully and actually get things done in the US Congress and state houses across the country. But no more - it's all about owning the other side and "Gotcha" moments and performance instead of actual results. Never more true than on display this morning in the press conference announcing the arrest than with the current FBI Director, Kash Patel. (A loyalist hire if ever there was one in this administration.) He named every possible person who might have assisted in the result and proved himself again a complete toady to Trump. The governor of Utah wasn't much better, although he did call for peace and calm, after a few words of praise for the deceased. This man was NOT a true Christian, he was not a true debater. He WAS a powerful influence on the young people he targeted with his performances. I hope hisotry will show what a negative influence that was. I am all in for free speech but not hate speech and not lies. And the misplaced largess of this administration to expend government finances on a) lowering flags to half staff for this "Influencer", b) send the VP out to Utah to have him return the body and family to Arizona on AF2, and 3) suggest he should lie in state in the Capiol is just plain batshit crazy and another example of owning the Libs. Oh, and release the Epstein files NOW!

Writing Through the Storm

~ We are currently about to be hit by the second round of thunder and rain for the day - our first significant rain in weeks. Lawns and crops are brown, well levels are lowering, trees are changing colors already and it's not even September. ~ I say "Bring on the rain" just leave the thunder. It's too jarring in a world that is already on edge from the attacks on our way of life by the government, specifically the Trump administration. Every day brings a fresh assault - today is on our health. Limited authorizations for COVID vaccines, limited supplies, too, I imagine, because what manufacturer would produce enough for the entire population after hearing the government challenge the effectiveness. I know I am ready for my next jab, along with the flu shot. I do not want either of those illnesses to affect my ability to go about my daily life. I have even ordered some new N95 masks as protection until I can get the shots. ~ The sad saga of Mr. Abrego Garcia continues. He was FINALLY returned to the US from El Salvador, telling of all the cruel punishments he received there and was released from custody this week only to be snatched again at his first scheduled report with the immigration authorities. A judge mercifully ruled that the feds cannot deport him to a country he has no ties to after Trump and Bondi announced they would ship him off to Somalia. WTF???? And his attorneys have requested a gag order to prevent Bondi et all from maligning him, as they have been so quick to do in the past. It almost seems as if they have a personal vendetta against him. ~ National Guard troops have been installed in DC, reportedly to restore peace to the crime-ridden streets. However, the latest reports have guardsmen picking up trash and spreading mulch on the sites of national monuments, because the reduction of National Park Service employees has created a need. I'll bet the guardsmen and their families are sooooo happy to have them deployed away from home and family and jobs for those details. And there is talk of the next target of this treatment to be Chicago. Gov. Pritzker is adamant that there is no need, he has not asked or been asked if he wants these troops. All the announced target cities are in heavily Democrtic areas, of course, while the cities with the highest crime rates are all in Red states. Hmmmm. ~ A high profile resistance act has emerged from the left coast - Gavin Newsom has started trolling Trump, making posts on X that mirror Trump's deranged posts on Truth Social. And he's posted videos in the same vein. Dark Gavin is good! And needed. ~ In non-politcal news: The Brunswick show 2 weeks ago was again a success, equaling my $1K take. Great weather and just a few glitches: someone setting up in my space when I arrived (he was supposed to be across the aisle); and a parking space kerfluffle at the end of the day - I thought a couple would be leaving a prime spot but when I got my car they said they wanted to go to dinner so were not leaving. I must have looked desperate because they changed their minds and let me have to space so I was able to load up and be on my way in 15 muinutes with a little help from my neighbors. Next show is in 2 months so I have time to reload and recharge. ~ Given the effect the chaotic tariffs have had on the import economy, it's likely good timing on my part to shut down at the end of the year. Much of the fabric I use is manufactured or at least printed overseas so the price would likely rise. (In fact, I've noticed a steady increase in price the past 3-4 years.) I've tried to keep my prices reasonable but have made modest increases on a couple of things just to keep profits up a bit. I'm trying to use up some dribs and drabs so have a run of trivets ready to layer and quilt. I need to make more scented trivets and runners. I've dropped sachets from my show line up and will give away the few remaining, as I have started doing with the mug mats. And I have a couple of display things I can list on Marketplace before show season gets going for real. ~ Racing has ticked along all summer and this is the last weekend for Saratoga. I'll go out on a limb and say the Sovereignty will be the 3 Year old of the year and maybe horse of the year. Derby, Belmont, Jim Dandy and Travers. Training up to the Classic.

The madness Continues - Sign

~ More unqualified appointments, more lunatic proclamations, and still no release of the Epstein files. I hope he rots in Hell because of what is in them. Based on testimony in other trials, I would not be surprised to find that he savors the taste of sweet young flesh. Because men like him always think they can do what they want and get away with it. I hope I live long enough to see justice served in the matter of DJT. And that his spawn slink off in disgrace, never to be heard from again. ~ My next show is a week away. Brunswick has always been good for about a third of my yearly income. It's that popular a show, in a high-visibility location, with lots of promotion and a team of organizers who treat the artisans with respect. Free lunch, water a plenty, bathroom breaks, help with whatever. This year I will have Betty right next door to keep me sane and right now the weather looks good - 80 and partly sunny with moderate humidity. And I have everything made - just need to finish updating the inventory, refresh the scented trivets and organize everything. Then it's 9 weeks until my next show. ~ Have been slowly working on Freddy's quilt but keep getting stuck or sidetracked. I ran into a digesetive issue this week and resorted to chewable Pepto tablets which helped but led to a freak out when I suddenly was pooping black stuff (a noted side effect of Pepto apparently!). Wondered if there was something elso going on but apparently not as all is back to normal now. Whew! Did NOT need that a week before a show. ~ Finished a 6 week/12 session Tai Chi course this week. It's been about a decade since I did this and I was amazed at how much came back so easily. And, my balance improved so much over the 6 weeks! I'm ready to sign up for Part 2 starting in October and will practice Part 1 at home until then. Have heard that the Fall class will be more crowded - we had at most 6 in the Part 1 class - so might need to resort to a mask. ~ The garden raised bed is starting to produce - tomatos, lettuce, green beans and chard have been harvested with more to come. Not sure the beets and carrots will ever amount to anything - I suspect the soil is not quite right for them. The pumpkins (planted in the ground) are taking off and I noticed a wee small one starting to grow yesterday. Yay! If I get even just one it's a win as I love cooking my own for pie in the Fall. ~ The weather this week has been spectacular - 70s daytime, 50s nighttime and low humidity. Supposed to warm a bit over the weekend and then drop again the end of next week. Keep it up! Although it's been so much easier on the body and for sleeping with the heat pump this year. Best investment.

3/4 of a Century

~ It sounds much more respectable than 75 years, doesn't it? That is how old I turned this past Wednesday. There are days I feel and act every day of that and there are other days I'm still 25 in my mind. (Depends on what music I'm listening to or how much news I've consumed.) No great wisdom to impart at this milestone but here are some observations: 1) I'm happy I was born when I was - I got to experience the hopefulness of having several exceptional men elected as our president. Their leadership was transformational in a most positive way. I also got to experience the low of having one of them taken away far too soon. I still remember that afternoon in junior high, hearing the announcement that the President had been shot, only to learn later that he was gone. In the days following - days off from school - the chaos of having his assassin shot, the transfer of power to a man who would not run when the term he finished was up, the solemnity of the funeral. Aside from the political, I am so blessed to have experienced the music I did - the 60s, 70s and 80s - the folk music, rock and roll, protest music. All hopeful and positive, unlike the grunge, rap, and heavy metal that followed in the 90s and beyond. Some serious songwriting chops back then! And the singers! Ah, Dan Fogelberg, Steve Perry, and more. 2) In some ways I've become more conservative as I have matured and in other ways more radical. The chaos and grift and downright incompetence of the Trump eras have sent me out to the streets to protest, more than once. But I still cling to many of the values instilled in me by my parents - I'd never get a tattoo, likely will never dye my hair a color not found in nature and I don't see any need for recreational drugs. And I have pretty much given up alcohol on a regular basis. I don't see any need to waste my time on what passes for television entertainment these days. It's all low class humor or staged reality tv, designed to appeal to people who are so unhappy with their lives that they thrive on someone else's misfortune. 3) I'm more tolerant of some ideas and less of others. If you do not believe that all people are created equal and have the same rights and that no one is above the law, you are not my kind of person. If you think you are entitled to some special treatment because of who you are, what your name is, where you are from or how much money you have, you are also not my kind of person. If you bully and talk down to children, women, people who are "different" from you, you are not my kind of person. If you mistreat animals, you are not my kind of person. I will do my best to call you out on those behaviors because someone needs to do so. 4) I'm happy I was fortunate enough to finally find a career instead of a job. It was something it turned out I was good at and enjoyed (until the business mindset took hold of higher education!) And I was happy to have discovered what I wanted to do in my retirement. I feel as if I've been moderately successful in my little business. And I'm happy to have realized it is time to leave it behind.

FINALLY - - - MAYBE???

~ The S__T really hit the fan this week when the Trump administration put out a memo that the files related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation were not being released as there was nothing there..I.E. there was no “list” of his associates to be had. (This after making a huge show of declaring the list would be released as soon as Trump took office and handing out a preliminary summary in fancy binders that turned out to contain only previously released information.) The press went wild, one of Trump’s appointed FBI underlings charged AG Pam Bondi with all sorts of things, and (UNEXPECTEDLY!!!) the MAGA base went absolutely crazy and are turning against him. ~ Trump is currently telling everyone to let it go and move on because there are other more pressing things to talk about. (A move that sort of is a tell that he is likely implicated in this report!) And while I agree because of the disastrous floods in Texas and New Mexico, the president of the largest country in the world should be able to multitask well enough to deal with all this. While I suspect this will not be his undoing I did not see this coming.